Fabrics, including clothing and other garments, typically retain an electrostatic charge. This charge assists in attracting and collecting lint, hair, dust and other particulate matter. It is typically undesirable to have lint or debris of any sort on clothing. However, it is sometimes difficult or impossible to simply wipe lint or debris off clothing and other fabric items, especially under conditions where the act of wiping generates additional static electricity, resulting in additional attraction and collection.
Washing and dry cleaning provide a lint removal solution. Washing and drying cleaning are inefficient, time consuming and expensive. Typically, the need for removing lint is immediate in both time and location, where the lint needs to be removed without removal of the clothing and the task needs to be accomplished quickly, such as moments before being seated at a social function or being introduced to others.
Many other devices have been created to remove debris from fabrics using an adhesive. Notable examples follow from U.S. Pat. No. 2,607,711 of Aug. 19, 1952 to Hendricks, assigned to Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minn.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,726 to Wolfrum teaches improvements to the adhesive-coated roll dispensed on a roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,453, RE 25,435 of Aug. 13, 1963 to Norman teaches a mitt-like dispenser with tacky-substance coated paper and a non-detachable protective cover sheet. In the alternative, Norman teaches a multi-finger holder for the dispenser, including the non-detachable protective cover sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,820,558 to Sundberg teaches a bag-like device worn by the hand, the outer surface of the bag having an adhesive suitable for collecting particulate matter such as lint.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,623 to Thill teaches a hand-sized sheet held by one or two finger apertures. One or more of the user's fingers protrude through the apertures to be positioned in front of the adhesive surface, the fingers contacting the fabric or material being cleaned. A portion of the adhesive surface sticks to the fingernail backs of the inserted fingers. The hand-sized sheet is extracted from a bulk pad with the assistance of a release liner. The preferred square shape is dimensioned to approximately 4.5 inches by 5 inches.
These devices all suffer from lack of discreteness, in that all come with considerable bulk and size. Some of these devices claim to be disposable and portable, however none are small enough to justify carrying in a pocket or purse. The present invention dispenses with the need for a tool, such as a roller, and bulky reservoir, such as a pad of sheets. In particular, the present invention also dispenses with the requirement of the use of two or more fingers to hold the dispensing device, and further dispenses with the use of a non-detachable protective cover sheet. The present invention does not require the user's hands or fingers to contact the adhesive material. Further, none of the devices present themselves to efficiently communicate and store a message for later recollection or retrieval.